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The Stearman Aircraft Company produced a bi-plane trainer-aircraft called the Model 70. In 1935 the USN ordered the Model 70 with a Wright J-5 Whirlwind engine designated theNS-1. Boeing Aircraft Company bought Stearman and gave the Model 70 a Lycoming R-680-5 radial engine making it a Model 75. In 1936 the U.S. Army Air Corps placed an order for the Model 75 and designated it PT-13. With a Continental R-670-5 engine it became the PT-17. The RCAF labeled it PT-27 Kaydet with Kaydet becoming the universally accepted name.

In February 1949 the Israeli Air Force purchased former U.S. Army PT-17s for their new Flight School at the ex-RAF base Kfar Sirkin just outside Telaviv. The IAF would eventually own over 60 PT-17s that were used as their primary trainer and supplemented with some Harvards. The IAF tested Chipmunks, Fokker S.11 Buckaroos plus a few others but they weren’t able to perform in the hot climate of Israel. In the 1950s pilot training required 60 hours in the PT-17 before moving on to the Harvard. The PT-17 was used until it was replaced in late 1956 by the Piper Super Cub. The #31 4X-ACH is kept at the Israeli Air Force Museum at the Hatzerim Air Force Base and is flown on some holidays, air shows and IAF pilot academy graduations.